Great Aussie Reads
  • Home
  • Why Read Australian?
  • Bookshelf
  • List A Book
  • Contact
  • Links
  • Blog

Season Of Shadow And Light (Reviewed by Simone)

1/4/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Jenn J Mcleod takes us back to country New South Wales in her third novel Season Of Shadow and Light. Although not actually set in the town of Callingary Crossing where her previous books were set, it is very much in the same vicinity, which gave it a nice link to the other stories of Jenn's which I enjoyed so much.

Paige Turner has enjoyed more than her fair share of heartbreak in her life, losing her mother at a young age, then suffering the devastation of a late term miscarriage. To compound matters complications after the birth have left her physically incapacitated and unable to continue her much loved career as a food critic. Finding out about her husband's infidelity is the tipping point leading to Paige to pack up her daughter Matilda and stepmother Alice and heading to outback NSW.

Their destination, the small town of Saddleton, has not been chosen at random. Having found an old photo of her mother taken in the town, Paige is curious to discover the unknown link. Although outwardly supportive of Paige's quest, Alice is clearly uncomfortable about Paige probing into the past and becomes increasingly agitated when floodwaters see them stranded in the tiny village of Coolabah Tree Gully. While Paige is content to stay and enjoy the local hospitality, Alice can speak of nothing but getting out and heading to their original destination or better still back home.

As with her other books Jenn illustrates the beauty of small town country life as the characters (with the exception of Alice) leave behind their city stresses and embrace the abundant natural beauty surrounding Coolabah Tree Gully. Paige's mother's secret past is gradually revealed and it is easy to understand Alice's angst and why she has kept the tragic secret for so many years.

Many themes are explored in Season of Shadow and Light - prejudice, love in all its forms, the power of forgiveness and learning to embrace and accept the past. It also explores such things as depression, organ donation and miscarriage. The characters are all well drawn and the kind of warm, three dimensional people readers have come to know in all Jenn J. McLeod's books.

For fans of Jenn J McLeod Season Of Shadow and Light will not disappoint and for those new to the series, you will no doubt be inspired to read the other titles.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Join The Australian Women Writer's Challenge
    • 2016 Reviews
    • 2013 Reviews
    • 2014 Reviews
    • 2015 Reviews
    REVIEWERS NEEDED!

    Do you love to read? Do you have an e-reader? Would you like free copies of Australian books in exchange for a review? Please click HERE for further details
        RECENT REVIEWS

    • All For My Children
    • Beyond The Orchard
    • The Other Side Of The Season
    • Truly, Madly, Guilty
    • Labour Of Love
    • Heartlines: The Year I Met My Other Mother
    • Evergreen Falls
    • How I Met Your Father
    • Out Of The Ice
    • Reckoning
    • The River House
    • Remembering Anita Cobby
    • Darkest Place
    • All That Is Lost Between Us
    • The Grass Is Greener
    • Surfacing
    • Room 46
    • The Secret Daughter
    • Six Degrees
    • She's Having Her Baby
    • The Lost Swimmer
    • Outback Midwife
    • Through The Wall
    • The Girl Who Lived
    • The Sand Dollar
    • Useful
    • Season Of Shadow and Light
    • Missing You

    Archives

    October 2017
    July 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2012

Powered by
✕